The graphs present the amount of money spent on protecting crops and the types of damage affecting agricultural land in Australia, Europe, and Africa in 2005.
Overall, Australia spent the largest amount of money on crop protection, and also caused the highest damage among the three other countries; whereas, fires dominated the highest rank in crop destruction.
As regards money expenditure on safeguarding crops, Australia and Europe had a similar downward trend throughout the year. Europe had spent $800 million in the first quarter, before it declined to roughly $700 million in the next quarter. Similarly, Australia followed the same pattern during the period. However, Australia’s spending plummeted further (below $400 million) by the end of the year. In contrast, Africa started at a low level (around $200 million) but consistently showed a sharp increase in the third quarter, culminating in almost $300 million in the final year.
When it comes to the type of damage, there were distinct causes for crop degradation in each country. Fires in Australia caused the highest destruction of agricultural land. The data showed that almost 850 hectares of land were burned by fire. In Europe, flooding was a major problem, revealing an estimated 650 hectares of land degraded. Finally, insects caused the most harm to crops in Africa, at approximately 700 hectares of land affected.